AN ACTION OF BOLD FAITH
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”
Mark 2:1-5 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
This is an amazing story demonstrating the power of Jesus to forgive sins and heal sickness. Jesus is teaching in a house and four friends come with a paralyzed man on a mat. This causes me to speculate about the story. The paralyzed man was totally helpless. He had no means of getting himself to Jesus. But he did have four friends who decided to carry him to Jesus. I can only imagine how that idea got started. One guy had to get the other three and tell them he thought it would be a good idea to take their friend to Jesus. They decided to carry their friend on his mat. Everything was good until they got to the house where Jesus was. They hadn’t planned for such a crowd, and no one would allow them to get to the front so they could see Jesus. But they were not going to give up. They went onto the roof of the house and dug a hole through the roof to let their friend down right in front of Jesus. This is an action of bold faith. Bold enough to carry their friend to Jesus. Bold enough to dig a hole in someone’s roof. Bold enough to lower their friend on a mat to Jesus. In another gospel narrative of the story we are told that when Jesus saw their faith, He spoke forgiveness and healing to the man. We never hear about the paralyzed man having faith. We don’t even know if it was his idea. The indication is his friends didn’t give him an option. They were taking him to Jesus. I believe there are times in our lives when we are called upon to act on behalf of someone else. They may be sick, or they may be separated from the life of Jesus spiritually. But they need someone to carry them to Jesus. They need to get into His presence to be influenced by His power. They need someone else to carry them to Jesus. We may not physically carry them. But we can spiritually carry them through our prayers, our conversations, and our invitation. We can be the bridge that gets someone into the presence of Jesus.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit please help me to see those in my world that need to come into Your presence. Help me to be willing to invest the effort to carry them to You.
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